Liverpool owner John Henry has explained why he bought the club in 2010, praising the city for it's "toughness, intelligence and creativity" and hailing Luis Suarez as "the most exciting player in the world."

When Henry bought the Anfield side in 2010 the club were on the brink of bankruptcy under American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

He said: "The larger part of the story that struck us when we were considering buying Liverpool out of a bankruptcy situation created by Americans was the similarities of the two cities, the two teams, the two histories, the two stadia."

"Both cities will excoriate me for comparing them, but like it or not they are kindred spirits."

John Henry on the similarities between Liverpool and Boston:

"Liverpool has a large Irish Catholic population, it’s a seaport on a famous river, both cities are about 45 square miles in size, both have around 600,000 people, both are college towns.

"Boston had the first public library, Liverpool had the first lending library. Both cities have pioneered medical advancements during the decades and both have the largest economic powers in the world exactly 213 miles to the south by car."

Liverpool and the Red Sox have the best rivalries in their sport:

"When we play our rival Manchester United the audience on television is about a billion people. That's about nine times the size of the audience for the Super Bowl. This is very similar to the relationship between the Red Sox and the Yankees."

Both teams have the most exciting player in the world:

"Liverpool have a David Ortiz. His name is Luis Suarez. He leads the league in goals and he's the most exciting player in the world today."

Both clubs have iconic stadiums:

"They play in the most historical cathedrals of sport. Anfield has 7,000 more seats than Fenway [the Red Sox's stadium] but actually you might say its a bit cosier than Fenway."

But John Henry's spending sprees haven't always paid off:

"When the Red Sox spent $300million on Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, Liverpool fans were irate. It actually should have been Boston fans.

"When Liverpool spent $200m on soccers players [Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing, Andy Carroll, Luis Suarez and others] the same year, not including their salaries, Red Sox fans were irate. But it should have been Liverpool fans."